Breathe
by Phoenixprincess9
Summary: Cleon of Kennan had a sister, Lia. Lia wanted to be a knight, but the way things were going they wouldn't be able to afford it. And with that they sent their youngest daughter,and Cleons favorite sister to the convent. After six months Lia ran away in the middle of the winter, presumed dead. Now shes back, a Shang Warrior with the gift. But she's not sure how her brother will react
1. Chapter 1

A girl no older than sixteen walked down the snow covered road, her face was covered by a hood and framed by long fiery red hair that tumbled in waves to a point just beneath her shoulder blades and had bangs on the right side of her head. Her eyes were bluer than the apparent color of ice, framed by long black lashes and had fairly tan skin, considering that it was winter in Tortall.

Her two swords clinked together as she walked down the path to the palace, a place she had so longed to see since she was a child. Now here she was, climbing up the hill that led to the place of legends. She took a deep breath and opened a mage link, her gift glowed an ice blue that faded to grey. Not many Shang warriors had the gift but hers proved more than useful in many situations.

The Shang Warriors don't normally take students with the gift but Lia was an exception. The teachers found the small girl curled up in a cave bleeding and half frozen but she was holding on. They took her in and prayed to the gods what to do, and several days later when she was up and able to move she was learning by just watching the older men and women, and quickly was correcting their stances and grips.

From then on Lia trained hard, determined to be the best she could be to help those who couldn't defend themselves. The teachers became attached to the small ten year-old, and she to them. They made her train harder, gave her more complex drills, harder academic work and worked her from sun up to sun down. The gods had hands on her life, giving her great things.

Lia went on several trips during her training, to Scanra, Yamani Islands and the Copper Isles. She learned ancient techniques and languages and used them to her advantage. She learned how to spy and create a character and story in minutes and, she was good at it. The teachers were impressed of course of which they moved her on quickly to the next thing and then the next. It went on like this for years, Lia didn't make many friends but those she did she would write to forever she told herself.

The Shang made sure not to disappoint the gods who watched her closely. The Great Mother wept with joy when she made the status of the new Shang Dragon. Mithros smiled and punched the air with glee, Gainel's eyes crinkled with mirth. And while in the realm of the black god, Liam Ironarm smiled at the new Shang Dragon and was happy that, not only did she excel at martial arts but everything, sword, axe, bow, dagger, staff and magic, though still scared of magic he was happy and at peace. The similarity between names was a plus.

Lia sighed at the memories, smiling at all the fun she's had over the strenuous years. She looked down at herself and cringed at the many scars, cuts and bruises she acquired. She looked at her right arm, that's where she got her first scar. She was about eleven and a half; they were doing one of the most dreaded exercises of the day. They would stand on one foot on a post of a nearby bridge and after a while they would switch to the other and then take brakes and stand on both. While others hated it Lia thought of it as a game, and she never wavered or wobbled or fell. Except for the day she got her first scar. A boy of thirteen, Ranel didn't like Lia and for reasons he thought obvious, she was a girl, she was favored by all and was so darned good at EVERYTHING she did. So one day he pretended to be very ill and waited until they left for the exercise and ran to the bridge and pushed her off the post. Now mind you the posts were about five feet tall and ragged. She fell and smacked the ground as they had taught her, splitting her forearm open. The memory was not a pleasant one but reminded her of how far she had come.

A deep sapphire blue magic showed and King Jonathon smiled at her.

"Hello," he greeted

"I presume you know who I am?" she asked, he nodded in reply.

"Then I guess I should tell you I'm almost at the front entrance of the palace."

"Oh, I'll be down in the entrance hall shortly. We shall talk then."

And with a curt nod the link ended and Lia continued up the hill through the snow.

Kel stood by a window in the entrance hall fumbling to undo the clasp of her cloak, and watched as her friends worked to do the same. Kel had a surprisingly large group considering the war, Kel and her squire friends were here for midwinter and their ordeal. Kel shuddered at the memories of her visit nearly four years past. Their group consisted o Kel, Dom, Neal, Merric, Owen, Seaver, Raoul, Alanna, Roald and some men from the Own.

Surprisingly the big redhead Cleon of Kennan was here and shaking snow out of his curly hair. His somber expression worried Kel; he was normally smiling and calling her flowery names. He always seemed sad during midwinter if he didn't think anyone was looking.

Cleon was on a surprising break from border duty up north and was excited to see his friends be knighted but midwinter was never the same without Lia. It's been too long and she ran away during the winter. There was no way she would have survived. That very thought had haunted him for the last six years. She was ten; she wouldn't have known nearly enough to survive a week. Cleon hated himself for not doing more.

What could he do now?

Kel sighed and looked out the window and saw a hooded figure coming up the steps. Kel scrunched up her face trying to figure out who the stranger when the king came down the steps.

"Is something wrong Your Highness?" Said Alanna and Raoul almost simultaneously, he waved them off and opened the large oak doors welcoming the stranger in. The stranger kept their head down as they pulled off the hood, revealing a head of red hair. The stranger removed her cloak revealing light brown breeches that were a little loose on the legs but barley, and they clung to her hips and her deep blue shirt was tucked into her pants had a slight v at the top with the long sleeves buttoned at the end. The girls blue eyes scanned the room, her eyes widening at the sight of Cleon. Her face had a dusting of barely noticeable freckles.

"Who is this, Jon?" Raoul asked, clearly puzzled.

"This is Lia, she is the, um, the ?" Jon asked not knowing the proper title.

Lia sucked in a deep breath, well here goes nothing.

Cleon oblivious until that moment stood straight and looked hopeful then defeated. So what she had the same name as your little sister a part of him said, but the other half truly hoped it was her. He wanted his favorite sibling back and he wanted to hold her and never let go.

She shook slightly at the fact that she was just revealing in front of her brother that she wasn't dead all those years. She didn't know how he would react, if he would hate her or just be glad she was alive. "I'm Lia," she paused "I'm Lia of Kennan, The new Shang Dragon."

**A/N Thanks to** **LadyKnightAllayia for correcting my spelling of Cleon's name **** I revised the chapter for the spelling! **


	2. The Beginning

Cleon froze, no way! She had to be lying, she couldn't be his sister. If she were still alive she would have made herself know to him some way. They were close; she wouldn't have just disappeared and not at least let him know she was still alive! As his mind raced King Jonathon, Lia and his friends carried on a conversation as to why she was there.

Lia said that after her training with the Shang was over she spent some months with the Sunset Dragon tribe before moving on to Corus. She gave brief details of some things that happened in those months and her journey here. "The Sunset Dragon tribe took me in and they gave me one of my horses-""You have a horse?" King Jonathon asked. "Yes, two actually, a chestnut mare Arion and a black gelding Midnight Sun. I got the gelding from the Bazhir. They got it as a gift from a village and then they gave him to me." Raoul looked puzzled, "The Bazhir gave you, a gelding? Last time I checked the Bazhir only used Stallions."

"The gelding they got as a pony and it was a gift from some noble who owed them a debt and well, after I became more accepted and was a member of the tribe, they gave me the horse saying that I'd do much better with the gelding than they would." Lia explained. The adults made 'O' shaped with their mouths.

"Back to more important issues, not to be rude but, why are you here?" King Jonathan asked in his most Diplomatic fashion. "I really don't know, I just have a feeling, an instinct really. That I should be here, Eda Bell could tell you. If we feel something as strong as what I'm feeling, follow it. Bad things have proved to happen if we don't. And after six years I've come to miss my brother." Lia explained. Jon nodded and before exiting the room said "If you should need anything, or feel you should go somewhere, have someone show you to my study."

After Jonathon's exit speech Lia turned around to talk to Cleon but was interrupted by a familiar voice calling out to her. She spun around on her heel and tackled the person into a bone crushing hug, in which they gladly return.

"Daine! I've missed you! I tried to write but I just haven't had the time. How are you?" Lia said happily. Daine smiled and pulled away from the hug to elaborate on the things happening in her life.

Cleon inwardly groaned, could he not get a moment to speak to his sister! And Daine, of all people for his sister to become friends with while she was away! Well of course it would be Daine, he thought sourly. The one person he doesn't talk to or flirt with, not that he is as big a flirt as Dom, but he _did flirt, just not with her._ Because honestly, Numair turned a man into a tree, a tree for Mithros sake! He thought Daine was pretty and all but he would rather stay human, if it's all the same.

Just as those thoughts entered his mind the mage himself entered the room looking pale and disheveled. Leaning up against Daine, he gave a weary smile to Lia. "Hello again little one," "Hello Numair, have a bit too much Fire Whisky?" she asked innocently before looking at Daine and the both broke out into hysterics and Numair chuckled lightly. "No, I'm afraid I left the Fire Whisky where I found it." They all smiled, reveling in some joke none of us understood.

"You wouldn't understand if we told you, and Cleon," Daine said, "I'm sorry, I didn't make the connection that she was your sister when we met three years ago. The thought of the possibility of her still being alive was small and she was so far away from Tortall, I just didn't think it possible." She was genuinely sorry and Daine couldn't help but feel bad now. Knowing Cleon's sister was alive but not knowing at the same time.

The girl she and Numair met didn't seem like she spent any time at the convent. She was weak and tired; trying to prove to the Shang teachers she was strong enough to tough it out or find or persuade someone to help her. She was thirteen, just learning how to do well on her own with her skills and abilities. She was strong, in mind and body but she was not invincible. There would always be someone to out-do her but she didn't care. She pushed her limits, almost to the point of death. But she always made it through; Daine had no trouble figuring she was favored by a god or goddess in some way.

It still amazed Daine that, despite Lia's weaknesses and faults she always tried to see the best and the strongest points in someone. But in several cases, as Daine had been told by the teen they had met, it didn't always work out that way. In some cases there were some people that had such an evil aspect to them, it overwhelmed her. And Lia had the Gift, not the Sight, but that quality was one Daine wished she had at times to find who's good and who's bad, but you can't choose the gifts your given. The evil would swamp her and momentarily blind her, impacting her so ferociously sometimes she would pass out. Daine couldn't help but wonder if she had any experiences like that since they had last spoke.

Cleon finally dragged Lia away with Kel, Neal, Merric, Owen and Seaver tailing behind like lost puppies, itching to hear his sister's story in more depth and detail. They all gathered in Lia's considerably larger room and sat in a circle around the fire. It _was _a week before Midwinter and considerably cold in the large chambers.

Lia sat cross legged on the bed, all their boots drying by the fire. The others in a semi-circle on chairs, stools and the couch, all positioned towards the bed. Cleon sat directly across from her, staring intently at her face, wondering what her life was like. Did she have friends? Someone to take his place as her brother? Did she get her heart broken? Did she get hurt? He had so many questions for her, so many sleepless nights wondering, and finally he can get some closure and breathe.

(a/n. See what I did there with the title )

"What do you want to know?" Lia asked, her eyes locked with her brothers gray eyes.

"Everything." His sober expression stirred something in Lia's chest; it was an expression she remembered vaguely because it was one he so rarely used.

"From the beginning?" "Yes, from the beginning." He insisted.

"Alright, here's my story… from the beginning." She said, pain was written on her face.

These things she was about to tell her brother and five total strangers were painful, and things she didn't necessarily want to talk about. Some of it scared her still; she still has nightmares and cried until it hurt. But Cleon needed to know, and Lia knew it and so she pushed on.

"Well, I was ten, and well, I wanted to be a knight, and our family didn't have the money. It was funding Cleon and going towards the very small dowry I would have had had I stayed and became a "lady". My parents decided it best if I went to the convent so when I reached the age I am now I could come to court and marry off and be the perfect wife and mother. I would sew, knit, embroider play an instrument and be who the convent would have made me. And after six months, I had no friends, I could do all those things and I sang as good a soprano as the teacher herself. And all that did was make them hate me. Even if I didn't try they didn't care. None except for one girl, Lillian of Irongate she talked and sat with me, talked and took me in and became my friend. That's why I left her a note, saying that I was leaving, not sure where I would end up and when I came back I hoped she would still be my friend though I highly doubt it, she probably hates me."

Lia paused, glancing up from her hands where her eyes had been momentarily focused. They were staring at her, eyes questioning and confused. "Why would you have no friends, just because you are good at things?" The large boy with emerald eyes asked, his name is Neal, if Lia remembered correctly.

"Girls are a lot more complicated when it comes to marriage. Most want the best, the wealthiest most handsome man at court and if they feel like someone might get in the way they shun that person and think that if they have no friends they will become less desirable to a man. Even when they are young they are prone to shun the one they think is better than them. Females are merciless in that way, and those who aren't are too shy to speak up for someone and be their friend. That's why I liked Lillian; she was bold, confident, funny, and a good listener. She and I talked a lot about things. She was my stability for those six months, she kept me sane."

A/N : Kay, so don't hate me for ending it like that, I promise you will get to hear the rest of Lia's story in the next few chapters. And I'm SOOOO sorry it took me so long, I had school, sports, and personal life/issues. I've been going through a lot so I apologize if the next few chapters come off a bit depressing I don't generally mean for them to. And there will be some Cleon chapters, any suggestions to make it better? Oh, and I'm thinking of having Lillian make an appearance so if you want not all of her details are final so send me what your Character (Lillian) would be/look like and that might be what she is like. And I will give you credit for personality and such I will try to update soon!


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